UFC on FOX 9 title challenger Josh Thomson: I haven't won anything yet

Josh Thomson has a message for all the well-wishers of the past 36 hours: Cool your jets.

“Everyone’s calling me and congratulating me,” the 34-year-old UFC lightweight told MMAjunkie.com of a surprise title shot later this year at UFC on FOX 9. “I haven’t won s–t yet. Until I win this fight, it doesn’t feel like anything special right now.”

Except that it already kind of does. Tuesday morning, Thomson (20-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) said he was up at 5:30 a.m. and had run, showered, eaten and contemplated how to beat lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (17-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) before he walked into his longtime gym at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif.

There, he mapped out a few different scenarios with coaches about a myriad of situations he might face with the unpredictable fighter, sketched out a game plan, shot some videos for the UFC, and probably prepared a few sound bites for a two-hour block of interviews Tuesday night.

Since announcing himself as a future contender by knocking out Nate Diaz with a spectacular head kick at UFC on FOX 7, Thomson has directed much of his energy at calling for fights against top contenders, including Pettis, who was briefly marooned between featherweight and lightweight following a knee injury.

Now, Benson Henderson is no longer the 155-pound champion of the world. Pettis is, and the person with the first guaranteed shot at him, T.J. Grant, is still benched following a concussion he suffered in training.

In a matter of moments, Thomson went from a top prospect to a title contender, which is a step he wasn’t able to make in 2004, when the UFC’s lightweight division was shuttered and he was forced to look elsewhere for work.

“I never thought this would happen, to be honest,” Thomson said. “There was a lot of talk of me fighting (Rafael) dos Anjos. When I called and said I would really like to fight in Sacramento (at UFC on FOX 9), there was talk of, ‘We’ll see what’s going on with dos Anjos. We’ll call you back.’ And that call back was, ‘Hey, do you want to fight Pettis?’

“You can’t say no to that.”

And, of course, he didn’t. But now that people know his answer, his phone won’t stop buzzing.

“It hasn’t sunk in,” Thomson said. “I have to do a lot. This isn’t going to be a rollover fight. I need to take that title from a very game and a very good Anthony Pettis.”

You won’t get a very specific answer from Thomson about his hastily assembled plan to take the belt from the newly crowned champion, who put his versatility on display when he submitted Henderson with a first-round armbar at this past month’s UFC 164 event. At the same time, “The Punk” said he isn’t doing anything much different from previous tough challenges.

So in that way, his title fight is nothing special.

“My solution has been the same for every opponent,” Thomson said. “I’ve got to work him on the feet. I’ve got to be in and out of the pocket, take him down, out-grapple him, touch him with my hands, and touch him with my feet. I’ve got to mix it up and keep him guessing at all times. It’s been that way my whole career. I can’t just fixate on one thing.

“You get fixated on one thing with him, he’s going to beat you. [Pettis] is going to stay calm and relaxed like he did with Benson, never wilting under the pressure, and I’ve got to stay the same. Just use my experience to my advantage, and take the fight to him.”